Welcome to Naked History, the podcast that peels back the polished layers of the past to reveal the weird, wild, and wonderful truths beneath. Hosted by historian Dyllan Gasaway, this show dives into the untold tales, strange coincidences, and overlooked events that shaped the world. From volcanic eruptions that sparked literary masterpieces to strange coincedences, absurd inventions, historical what-ifs, and the mystery of it all, you've found the right place.
Welcome to Naked History, the podcast that peels back the polished layers of the past to reveal the weird, wild, and wonderful truths beneath. Hosted by historian Dyllan Gasaway, this show dives into the untold tales, strange coincidences, and overlooked events that shaped the world. From volcanic eruptions that sparked literary masterpieces to strange coincedences, absurd inventions, historical what-ifs, and the mystery of it all, you've found the right place.
What if the “first Thanksgiving” wasn’t a beginning, but an ending? In this episode, host Dyllan pulls the camera back on the 1621 harvest encounter and the world around it: the 1616–19 epidemics that shattered New England’s coastal communities; Massasoit’s (Ousamequin’s) high-stakes diplomacy; and Tisquantum (“Squanto”) as a captive-turned-broker navigating survival and suspicion. We read the receipts—Winslow’s Mourt’s Relation, Bradford’s Of Plimoth Plantation—to see what 1621 actually was (wildfowl, venison, 90 Wampanoag men, very few English women) and what it wasn’t (“a Thanksgiving” in the later religious sense).
From the Pequot War’s 1637 “thanksgiving” proclamation to Sarah Josepha Hale, Harper’s/Nast, and Lincoln’s 1863 decree, we follow how a harvest party became a nation-binding ritual—then how the 20th and 21st centuries layered parades, football, canned cranberries, Friendsgiving, and counter-memory. No guilt tours here—just grown-up gratitude with context, practical ways to honor Native presence today, and a wider frame that can hold joy and truth at once.
Music Credit: